The following edition of the text was used in the creation of this study guide: Levine, Stacey. Mice 1961. Verse Chorus Press, 2024. Kindle AZW file.

In 1961 Miami, 20-year-old Jody Marrow and her younger half-sister, Mice, live together following their mother’s death. Mice, who is implied to be albino, avoids sunlight and spends her time tinkering with radios, often harassed by neighborhood teens. The story is narrated by Girtle, a reclusive woman who lives with the sisters, mostly unseen, having become their housekeeper in exchange for shelter. Jody, overwhelmed with responsibility, has asked Girtle to keep an eye on Mice, though she largely ignores Girtle’s presence.

Jody is frantic when she realizes Mice is missing and tells Officer Denny, who dismisses her concern until she mentions that the stove was left on. Unbeknownst to them, Girtle watches nearby. Girtle recalls Jody inviting Mice to a neighborhood potluck party, hoping she’ll be more social and maybe find work at the bookmobile. Mice is reluctant and threatens to leave home. Girtle, jealous of Jody’s closeness with Mice, becomes convinced a “helper” will come into the sisters’ lives and replace her.

The Reef Way neighborhood is hostile toward Mice due to her appearance. Girtle watches Mice being bullied by a group of teens named Laurette, Helen-Dale, Honey, and Joyce, who knock her down. Mice escapes by hiding in a light well. Girtle, too timid to intervene, watches from afar. As an old woman now recounting the past, Girtle reflects on the community’s cruelty and her own inaction.

On the morning of the party, Mice loses a knob from one of her radios and asks Jody to call Miss Stroke at the bookmobile. Jody refuses, insisting Mice come to the party to speak with her in person. Mice reluctantly agrees to meet Jody at 5 p.m. Later, Mice braids Girtle’s hair. Girtle suggests they escape together to a cottage and tells Mice to leave the stove on as a signal if she agrees. But Mice gives no clear answer and leaves.

Girtle spots Mice talking to Jack Lance, a man who helps her build radios. He rants about Cold War threats. Girtle again asks about the cottage, but Mice remains noncommittal. Girtle is fixated on the imagined “helper” who might soon arrive and shift the sisters’ dynamic forever.

Returning to the moment when Mice is hiding in the light well, Mice is still being mocked by the teens. Joyce insults her. When Girtle later confronts Laurette about why they bully Mice about her appearance, she replies, “Because dummy. That’s what we see” (86). Mice emerges briefly, says she’s no different from them, then disappears again.

Part II takes place at a potluck party. Girtle narrates in a fragmented way, confused by names and details. Jody anxiously waits for Mice. Marge and Sheila try to comfort her, but Jody is defensive and rude. Girtle hides under the stairs, observing the women’s gossip. Upstairs, someone finds a baby alligator in the bathroom. In the chaos of trying to remove it, the alligator is accidentally killed.

Outside, Jody has a tense conversation with Harriet, who insists life will improve once Mice grows up. Jody is angry and returns inside. Girtle listens from hiding, unable to catch every word. Jody later shares a dream about the moon being too close, fearing it was a premonition of disaster. Jody confronts Girtle, asking where Mice is. Girtle recounts her own abandonment and tells Jody Mice is hiding after being bullied.

Mice eventually arrives, and Girtle, distracted by the party, loses track of her. Hal and Eve Gruelin, rich newcomers, appear and cause a stir. Hal rejects everyone’s suggestions for a companion for Eve, until he sees Mice. Intrigued by her oddness, he chats with her about radios and Cuba. Eve suggests Mice become her companion and Hal agrees. Jody arrives, initially upset, but softens when she learns Hal is considering hiring Mice. Jody tells Mice that Mice has been offered a job at the bookmobile, but they argue. Mice finds her missing radio knob in Jody’s pocket. Jody admits to stealing it to force Mice to attend the party. When Jody accuses Mice of leaving the stove on, Mice denies it, and Jody turns on Girtle. Girtle admits she turned on the stove, believing it was her part of a silent pact with Mice. Tensions flare. Mice accuses Jody of always being critical, especially of their dying mother. Jody cruelly blames Mice for their mother’s death. Girtle sees a man enter and senses he’s the story’s “helper” that she has feared. A voice in her head calls him an antagonist.

The man, Kenny, chats kindly with Mice, who tells him she plans to leave home. Jody, watching from above, shouts for Mice not to go. Mice notices Kenny’s pilot watch and begins questioning him. He becomes nervous. Other guests joke he might be there to bomb Cuba. He panics, grabs Mice, and demands she lie about what he has told her about his work as a pilot. When she refuses, he becomes threatening. Girtle knocks over a barrel, startling Kenny, and Mice escapes.

The partygoers watch as Mice runs into a cornfield. Jody begs Girtle to bring her back, but Girtle stays still. As Mice vanishes across a patch of flattened grass known as The Way, a voice in Girtle’s head asks if it really is really the way. Girtle knows that it is.